Astronomy Tower
by Lianna Evans
Summary: Two unlikely lovers discover that they should never let anything intervene with the deepest desires of their heart


Astronomy Tower  
By Lianna Evans  
  
One-shot ff. Two unlikely lovers learn that they must never let any thing  
intervene with the deepest desires of their hearts. DMHG.  
  
I am up in the Astronomy Tower, with Harry's Invisibility Cloak folded neatly, place on one of the banister with my book on top of it. I do not know what I am doing here – Filch may catch me and get me in loads of trouble. It's as if I am waiting... Waiting for someone.  
Suddenly the door flings open and a dark figure emerges from the shadow. I am too startled to move – I stare at him, he stares back, with his cold grey eyes, and for the first time in seven years, I see emotions in those bitter tunnels to the soul. He smiles, without, at all, a trace of malice, as he greets me. "Granger," he mutters, combing back his blond hair. I am glad he stopped using gel – it looks much better that way.  
I smile back and say, "Hello Draco."  
He comes over to me, putting his hand inside his pocket. "It's a cold night," he says to me, as he pulls out a cigarette. He puts it in his mouth and lights it.  
"Yes," I answer, finally feeling the cold. I wrap my arms around myself, cursing. I have forgotten to bring a cloak.  
He is silent, staring at the darkness of the night. I study him. He had grown a few inches taller since I last saw him. He is thin, but strong at the same time. His face is sober and he looks slightly older for his age. He seems tired. He sighs and looks at me, "Something the matter, Hermione?"  
I am surprise to hear my name come out from his lips. I have never heard him call me anything but "Granger" and "mudblood". Moreover, he speaks my name with such...fire. I manage to mutter, "It's the cold."  
He stares at me with a half smile forming upon his lips. Then he removes his cloak and puts it around me wordlessly. There is silence between us as once again, as our eyes meets. I am surprise at what I just realize – that I would give anything to make this moment last for an eternity.  
He opens his mouth, as if to speak. He seems to thought it better not to, though, for he takes a step away and tears his eyes away from mine. He places his cigarette back to his mouth.  
I could not resist. I whisper his name. "Draco..."  
He turns back to me, his eyes filled with sadness, "What is it?" he asks.  
"How come you didn't call me mudblood?" I ask. My knees trembles.  
He looks at me, amuse, then he laughs. "Hermione... I like the sound of your name," he says, looking away. He discards the cigarette. "Because I never wanted to call you that. You don't know how much I hate myself whenever I call you that."  
I am once again astounded. His answers are riddles to me. "What do you mean, Draco?" I force myself not to stammer.  
He looks at me again, smiling sadly. He takes a step towards me.  
Then another.  
Then another.  
He raises his hand and gently caresses my cheek. "I love you, Hermione Granger," he says. "I have loved you ever since I have known you."  
I look up to him, seeing the tired, miserable look in his eyes. Then, I suddenly find myself holding him, my head resting on his broad chest. And all the restrains and borders for this godforsaken emotion for this man I had put up for the last six years had crumbled down before my very eyes in the course of six seconds. Right then and there I admit to myself the very thing I have been dreading to admit – that I am in love with Draco Malfoy.  
"I love you too... I love you too..." I find myself mumbling. He is holding me, caressing my hair and kissing my forehead gently, then he pulled away, looking hurt.  
"Hermione, this is wrong..." he begins to say.  
"Why?" I ask, beginning to feel the tears I was trying to hold back.  
"We have a different path. I am destined to go to the Dark and you, to the Light," he says.  
"You can change your path Draco!" I said, stepping towards him. To my horror, he steps away.  
"What about Potter?" he asks bitterly.  
Confuse, I say, "What about Harry?"  
"You're going out with him, right?" he growls, looking at me again.  
"I am not going out with Harry. I never went out with anyone except Viktor and that was three years ago! You, you're the one who's going out with Parkinson," I say to him accusingly.  
"I only did because I know you will never go out with me. "Coz it's not meant to be, Hermione!" Draco says.  
"Draco..."  
He holds up a hand. "Don't speak." He walks towards me again and puts his arms around me. "Do you mean what you said?"  
I nod. "I do... Draco, is this real?" I pull away, just enough for me to touch his face. "Are you real, Draco?"  
He is smiling. I feel tears beneath my hand. "I am real, Hermione."  
And with that, he holds me close again. The darkness and the cold vanish in our midst, as realization comes to me. Realization that time, distance and destiny does not really matter, when it comes to choosing who to love. All that, I begin to see, here on the Astronomy Tower. 


End file.
